Amidst the developing gloom and gnashing of teeth brought on by the enduring nature of this moderate weather precisely at the peak of the black grouse hatch, I thought it would be cheering to include a couple of photographs of black grouse chicks which I took on the Isle of Arran a couple of years ago while Continue reading

Also just worth recording in brief the fact the blackcock continue to display and call into June, despite the fact that a close encounter last night revealed that the moult has begun and the feathers on the back of the head and around the collar are beginning to get tatty. I picked up a few Continue reading

Having been confined to the doldrums of dysfunctional BT internet for the past ten days, I have been building a backlog of posts and images which should have been up on the blog by now. I hope to be able to work these through over the next week, and thought I’d start with a quick Continue reading

As part of my attempts to find out more about the nesting curlews I discovered yesterday, I was out on the hill this morning just after 3am. A great deal more to come on these curlews, but couldn’t resist posting this very distant “record shot” photograph of one of the new blackcock which are making Continue reading

Just worth recording in brief my discovery of a new foodplant for the black grouse on the Chayne. I was watching a proud and illustrious bird sounding off on the peat haggs yesterday morning, and afterwards went up to inspect his display ground once he had cleared off. I found a few droppings which were surprisingly yellow, Continue reading

Over the past week I have found a depressing amount of eggs which have been predated by crows. A scattering of pheasant eggs is not usually a particularly desperate sign because you have to wonder whether or not the hen bird was clever enough to build a clutch in the first place. I’ve found pheasant eggs Continue reading

Going through my figures and findings from this year’s black grouse counts in Galloway, I see some interesting patterns and themes emerging. I will publish my findings in a bit more detail on here in the next week or so, if only because it is useful to see where the Galloway birds are in relation Continue reading

Well worth noting the generally positive article on Langholm Moor in this month’s BBC Wildlife Magazine. BBC Wildlife is a flamboyant victory of style over substance; a magazine so glossy that it is actually quite difficult to pick up, and although the photographs are often stunning, the sheer volume of advertisements and publicity material makes it Continue reading

Just trawling through some of the many thousands of photographs I have taken during the past month of lek surveys and black grouse observations and found this one of a blackcock on a telegraph wire at Langholm moor. Several birds were gathered beneath the wires during morning this picture was taken, and a greyhen landed Continue reading

Having written about young birds avoiding the leks earlier in the week (see below), the situation became a little bit clearer while I was up doing a quick tour of leks in Angus and Kincardineshire. It is important to say from the outset that birds in prosperous areas behave very differently to the birds that Continue reading